RPV and the Wisdom of Washington … George Washington
I was thinking of the most effective way to formally introduce myself as a new contributor to the greatest right-slanted source of information on the internet.
Other than making every effort to also follow the wisdom of my friend and fellow contributor Will Shewmake, I thought I would begin my journey with a series. Seemingly separate sets of events that, when woven together, will tell an unbelievable story of the Republican Party here in the Commonwealth.
The following are but a few paragraphs from George Washington’s 1796 farewell address (bold emphasis mine):
“All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency.
“They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests.
“However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust
dominion.“… The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.”
I chose these paragraphs, written by our nation’s First President, due to my sheer amazement of how relevant the thoughts he shared in 1796 turned out to be in 2019.
I hope you enjoy the series, but more importantly, I hope it makes you consider how Washington’s words can still inspire everyone to heed his message.
You may also enjoy these guest posts from Andrea:
–Removed or Not Removed? That WAS the Question
